Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know — Ernest Hemingway

February 28, 2009

Philip Jose Farmer: Dead at 91

The most prestigious place in my house for a book is the bathroom. I'm serious. These are the books I want to spend quiet time with, alone and enjoy slowly.

Currently and proudly I have a copy of Philip Jose Farmer'sTarzan Alive in my bathroom. I have been working my way through his 'biography' of Lord Greystoke. This book, like his The Other Log of Phileas Fogg and A Barnstormer in Oz are fantastical takes on classics.

If you love to read and have read most of the legendary fantasy and sci-fi novels, then Farmer's riffs on the works of Jules Verne and Edgar Rice Burroughs or on Doc Savage and Sherlock Holmes adventures should be on your nightstand or toilet bowel.

His hard fantasy and sci-fi is fantastic as well. To Your Scattered Bodies Go is original and thought provoking. It is the introduction into his Riverworld Series. Then there is his World of Tiers Series, which may be one of the best in science fiction.